It might be called "fake news" but at it's heart, it's the latest wave of social engineering. This apolitical talk explores the similarities between traditional social engineering and today's "fake news". During this talk, Michael Schrenk will show how social engineers use OPSEC (Operations Security) to plan a successful social attack. Additionally, you'll also learn the about the economics of "fake news", who's making the money, and how much, and how information is weaponized. This talk will also reveal that the news has been socialized for a long time, and that socially engineered news lead to the start of the Spanish American War. We'll also explore techniques to guard against social engineering in general, and specifically in the media.
While best known in The USA for his work with botnets and webbots, Michael Schrenk is known across Europe for teaching Investigative Journalists privacy and hacking techniques. In addition, he has developed multiple weekend workshops for The Centre for Investigative Journalism at City College in London England. Along with his teaching, Michael has also gathered data for some of the biggest news agencies in Europe. Today, Mike is based right here in Las Vegas, Nevada. @mgschrenk www.schrenk.com